Regulating apparatus



Dec. 2, 1941. J. F. KovALsKY HEGULATING APPARATUS Qeu. 2, 1941. 1, F. KovALsKY REGULATING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 2l, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 220.3

lllllIll 7 me Feiay /5 al' /6 Yagma? md NU E0 MK F n w 6 fa ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 2, 1941 BEGULATING APPARATUS Joseph F. Kovalsky, Turtle Creek, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsbur of Pennsylvania gh, Pa., a corporation Application December 21, 1939, Serial No. 310,409

7 Claims.

My invention relates to regulators and particularly to regulators of the type in which the regulated quantity is controlled by the operation of a motor.

In regulating apparatus of this type as applied, for example, to the operation of a motoroperated rheostat in the eld circuit of an electric generator, or in the iield circuit of an exciter supplying current tothe field winding of the generator, for controlling the generator voltage, it is the usual practice to provide a contactmaking voltmeter or primary relay that is sensitive-to the regulated voltage, and which moves a beam or similar element in the one or other direction from a mid or balanced position in accordance with the direction and amount of variation in the regulated quantity from its desired value. The movable contact members are adapted to engage normally stationary contact members through which circuits are closed for controlling the operation of secondary relays, which in turn control the operation of the rheostat motor to vary the field winding excitation. Changes in the generator output voltage occur at short time intervals after changes in the setting of the field controlling rheostat due to the inductance of the generator field winding, so that in order to prevent over-correction in the regulated voltage it is customary to provide an anti-hunting mechanism for interrupting the operation of the rheostat motor prior to the completion of aA correction of the regulated voltage. If, therefore, the 'variation in the regulated voltage is large, the initial operation of the mechanism will be `insufficient to complete the correction and the primary relay may cause one or more successive operations of the regulated mechanism, thus effecting a step-by-step correction in the voltage until a sulcient number of operations of the equipment have taken place to effect the necessary correction of the regulatedvoltage. This step-by-step operating characteristic causes the regulator mechanism to take a considerable time to complete a large correction in the regulated quantity, since the complete correction is eected by a succession of smaller corrections, the operation of the equipment being interrupted between the successive steps.

' It is an objectoi' the invention to provide a regulator of the above-indicated character which will effect a correction in the regulated quantity upon a single operation of the equipment for each change in the regulated quantity from its desired value independently of the amount of change thereof, instead of eecting a step-bystep action in which the number of steps of operation vary with the amount of correction required.

A regulator having the operating characteristics indicated will more -rapidly correct the regulated quantity, since the time interval between successive operating steps of the mechanism is eliminated, and the duty on the equipment is also reduced because the contact members and relays controlled thereby are brought into operation a lesser number of times.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying dra-wings, in which:

Figure l1 is a simplified diagrammatic view of the essential apparatus and circuits illustrating a conventional regulating equipment;

Fig. 2 is a diagram indicating the operating characteristics of the regulator illustrated .in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 1s a diagrammatic view of apparatus and circuits illustrating an embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 4 is a diagram indicating the operating characteristics of the regulator equipment iilustrated in Fig.. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1, a generator I is iliustrateci having an armature winding 2 connected to im Y, ply current to a three-phase circuit con` -rl ng conductors 3, 4 and 5 and having a eld wind ing 6 connected to be supplied with energyv from an exciter generator l having an armature winding 8 that is connected to the field winding B through a rheostat 9. The exciter generator I is shown as having a self-excited leld winding l2 connected across the armature winding S through a control resistor I3. The rlieestat is actuated by a rheostat motor i4 in accordance with the operation of secondary relays I5 and I6 there are, in turn, controlled by a primary' relay I1 having a winding I8, that is sonner-ef by circuit conductors I9 and 2! to be ener in accordance with the ou generator l.

g @8 against pull of a spring 23 to' control the operation of a contact-carrying lever 24 that connected to the armature core 22 and to the spring 23 and is mounted to move about the pivot 25. The end of the lever 24 remote from the pivot 25 carries movable contact members 2E and 2l that are adapted to engage normally stationary congagement with the contact member 21.

tact members L and R, respectively, that are carried by levers 28 and 29. The lever 28 is mounted to move about the pivot 3l, and the lever 29 is mounted to move about the pivot 32, the two levers being interconnected by a. link 33 for effecting simultaneous movements o the levers 28 and 29 in a directio'n to' cause the contact members L and R to move away from each other or toward each other. A stop 34 is provided ior limiting the movement of the contact members L and R toward each other. The levers 28 and 29 are subject to the Iorceof a. spring 35 and to the force of a magnet 36, the core of which is connected to the lever 29 and is provided with an energizing winding 31A connected in a manner to be later described. A dashpot or similar retarding device 38 is provided for limiting the rate of movement of the electromagnet core in the upper direction, as indicated by the arrow.

When the voltage of the generator l is at its desired value, the contact members 26 and 21 float in their illustrated positions between the contact members L and R, and the relays I and I8 are in their deenergized or illustrated positions. If the voltage of the generator I decreases below the desired value, the energization of the winding I8 and of the core 22 of the primary relay I1 is decreased so that the greater pull of the spring 23 causes engagement of the contact member. 21 with the contact member-R to close a circuit fromthe battery 4I, through conductor 42, contact members 21 and R, conductor 43, the Winding 44 of the relay I6 and conductor 45 to the opposite terminal of the battery 4I, causing the relay I6 to be actuated to move the contact members 46 and 41 thereof to their circuit cloolng positions. The contact member 46 closes a circuit from the battery 48, through the armature Winding 49 of the rheostat motor I4 and the field winding 5I to operate the motor I4 in a direction to move the rheostat arm 52 in a counterclockwise direction from engagement with one to engagement with another of the rheostat buttons 53. This movement increases the amount of rheostat resistance 54 that is shunted .through the connection 55, thereby decreasing the resistance in the eld circuit and increasing the voltage applied to the field winding 6 to correspondingly increase the voltage of the generator I, and

cause the primary relay to again center the contact members 26 and 21 in their illustrated positions. A condenser 56 is provided in shunt relation to the relay Winding 44 to maintain the winding energized for a sufcient length of time after separation of the contact members 21 and R to hold the relay I6 in a closed position long enough 'to permit the motor I4 to move the rheostat arm 52 from one to an adjacent one of the rheostat buttons 53 even though the contact members 21 and R are separated prior to the time necessary for the motor I4 to complete a single step in the operation of the rheostat 9.

Upon operation of the relay I8 te its circuit closing position. the Contact member 41 completes a circuit from the battery 4I through conductor 42, winding 31, conductor 51, contact member 41 and conductor A45 to the battery'4l to energize the electromagnet 36 and cause the contact member Rto be moved abruptly downwardly or in a direction to separate it from en- Upon the deenergization of the relay I6 and the interruption of the circuit through the contact y member 41, the force of the electromagnet 36 decreases permitting the spring 35 to'move the levers 28 and 29 and the contact members L and R to their normal or illustrated positions. The

action of the dashpot 38 limits the rate of this return of the contact members L and R to their normal positions, so that an appreciable time is permitted for the voltage of the generator I to adjust itselito the changed condition caused by operation ci the rheostat 9.

If the voltage of the generator I increases above its desired value, the pull on thercore 22 of the primary relay I1 is increased so that the force exerted by it is greater than the force exerted by the spring 23, thus causing the lever 24 to be moved upwardly and effect engagement of the contact member 26 with the contact member L. A circuit is thus closed from the battery 4|, through conductor 42, contact members 28 and L, conductor 58, the winding 59 of the relay I5 and conductor 45 to the battery 4I, causing operation of the relay I5 to close circuits through the relay contact members 8l and 62. The movement cf the contact member 6I to its circuit closing position completes a circuit from the battery 48 through the motor armature winding 49, field winding 83 and contact members 6I to cause operation of the motor I4 in a direction to move the rheostat arm 52 in a direction to increase the amount of the resistance 54 in circuit with the field winding 8 and decrease the generator voltage. A condenser 84 is shown connected in shunt relation to the relay winding 59 for maintaining the relay in its circuit closing position a sutilcient time to permit the motor I4 to operate the rheostat arm 52 from engagement with one rheostat button 53 to engagement with the next adjacent button of the series. The relay contact member 62 closes a circuit from the battery 4I, through conductor 42, winding 31 of the electromagnet 38, conductor 65, contact member 62 and conductor 45 to the battery 4I, to cause operation of the magnet 36 in the manner above described to move the contact members L and R away from each other, the member vL moving in a direction to cause separation of the contact membersL and 26 to interrupt the circuit through the relay winding 59 and thus interrupt the operation of the motor I i. The electromagnet 38operates in the same manner independently of which of the relays I5 or I6 is energized, that is, to effect an abrupt movement of the contact members L and R away from each other upon energization of the winding 31 and permit a gradual movement toward each other upon deenergization of the winding 31 after the secondary relay I5 or I8 has dropped to its illustrated or deenergized position until limited by the stop 34. f

Referring to Fig.V 2, the time necessary to complete a correction in the generator voltage is shown by the horizontal distance or abscissaiof the various points onthe curve A-B for varying percentages in variations of the regulated quantity from its desired Value. In this curve, it is assumed that each step of the operation of the rheostat 9 causes a half percent correction in the generator voltage. If, for example, the voltage varies from the desired value by 1/23?, the contact members of the primary relay I1 will eiect a one-step operation of the rheostat 9, which takes place during the time indicated by the line 68 in Fig. 2, the horizontaldistance beyond the line 68 to the curve A-B representing the time during which the contact members L and R are returning to theirr normal positions under theV ation in the regulated quantity is 1%, two operations of the rheostat 9 will take place as indicated .by two lines 61 in Fig. 2. It will be noted that, as the variation in the regulated quantity froml the desired value increases, the duration of time between the first and second operation of the mechanism becomes less. This is because as the position of the primary relay lever 24 is moved further from the balanced position, a lesser movement of thecontact members L and R from their extreme separated positions toward their normally stationary positions is required to elect a second engagement of the contact members. 'As indicated by the lines 63 in Fig. 2 opposite a 3% variation in the regulated quantity, it will be 'apparent that the rst operation of the electromagnet 36 was not suflicient to cause imymediate separation of the primary relay contact members.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, the equipment there disclosed includes the same essential parts as the regulator system disclosed in Fig. 1, namely, theI generator I, exciter generator 1, rheostat 8 .controlled by a rheostat motor I4 in accordance with the operation of secondary relays I5 and I6 as controlled by the primary relay I1. The system disclosed in Fig. 3, however, difers from that disclosed in Fig. 1, in that the back contacts 62 and 41 on the secondary relays I5 and I6, respectively, instead of controll ling the energization of the Winding 31 directly, control the energization of a winding 1I of a timing relay 12, through a circuit from the battery 4I, including conductors 13 and 14, the contact member 41 or the contact member 62 and conductor 15. The operation of the timing relay 12 to its circuit closing position in turn closes a circuit through conductor 42, winding 31 of the electromagnet 46, conductor 16, relay contact member 11 to the battery 4I. A condenser 18 is connected in shunt relation to the relay winding 1I having a considerable capacity for a purpose to be later explained The dashpot 38, as indicated by the arrow'19, is effective to retard the movement of the core of the magnet 36 in both directions of travel.

The regulator system illustrated in Fig. 3 for starting the operation of the motor I4 and the rheostat 9 operates in a manner similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1. Upon movement of the primary relay lever 24 in the one or other direction from its mid onbalanced position, the engagement of contacts 26 and L, or 21 and R, closes` a circuit to operate the secondary relay I5, or I6, to its circuit closing position to cause operation of the rheostat ymotor direction. Upon the closure of one of the relays I5 or I6. a circuit is closed through the back contact members 62 or 41 to eect operationof the timing relay 12 to its closed position to energize the electromagnet 36. Since, however, the dashpot 38 prevents sudden movement of the core of the magnet 36 and consequently sudden movement of the contacts R and L away from each other. the duration of time during which the primary relay Contact members 26 and L, or 21 and R, remain in engagement is increased. From reierence to Fig. 2. the total time of operation of the regulator equipment required for effecting correction in the regulated voltage is indicated by the total time during which relays I5 and I6 are closed: that is. the total time represented by total length of the dash lines in Fig. 2 opposite a particular percentage of error value. rlfhe electromagnet 36. together with the dashpot 3B. may be so designed that the rate of movement of I4 in the one or other the contact members L and R is such that for any particular percentage variation in the regulated quantity from its desired value, this total time is consumed prior to separation of the pri* mary relay contact members. These values are indicated in Fig. 4 by the continuous horizontal lines opposite the indicated percentage values which represent the percent change in the regu lated quantity from its desired value. This causes continuous operation of the motor I4 and rheostat 9 over the number of rheostat steps necessary to complete the correction for any percentage error. n

When the electromagnet 36 has moved suiciently to separate the primary relay contact members, the secondary relay I5, or I6, drops to its open or illustrated position, thus interrupting the operation of the motor I4. At the same time, the circuit through the winding 1I of the timing relay 12 is interrupted. However, in view of the condenser 1B in parallel circuit relation to the winding 1I, the deenergization of this winding is retarded long enough to maintain the circuit through the winding 31 of the electromagnet 36 energized until the levers 28 and 29 have reached their extreme outer positions. Upon the deenergization of the timing relay 12, the circuit through thewinding 31 is interrupted and the spring 35 starts the movement of the levers 28 and 29 to their normal stationary positions. The time consumed in this operation, as indicated by the horizontal distance between the right-hand ends of the several horizontal lines in Fig. 4 and the line A-B, represents the time interval between the separation of the primary relay contact members and the completion in the adjustment of the voltage of the generator I resulting from the operation of the rheostat 9.

This time interval issuficient to permit the primary relay lever 24 to reach its mid or balanced position beforeA the Contact members H and R have' returned to their, normally fixed sitions as limited by the stop 34. The time of operation of the regulator mechanism. for cornpletion of the adjustment ol the regulated quantity to its desired value is represented for any particular percentage of variation from the desired Value represented on Figs. 2 and 4 by the horizontal distance between the ordinate and the curve A--B of these two figures. It will, therefore, be apparent that the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 3 operates to correct the regulated quantity in a much shorter time by, in eiect, adding the several step-by-step operations of the equip ment shown in Fig. l. into a single operation oi' like change in rheostat position. loirL eliminating the time intervals between succes steps that is characteristic of the equipment shown in Fig. l,

Modications in the apparatus and circuits shown within the spirit el' my invention will apparent, and l do not wish to be limited otherwise than by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a regulating system, in combination, control. relaiy contact position responsive to an, electrical vquantity of the tem, and conta t means cooperatively rf" thereto, me responsive 'to the engagement said coopera-ang Contact means for controlling said regulated quantity, electromagnetically controlled anti-hunting means con olied by said co operating contact means for moving said second named contact means from an initial position in a direction to separate said Contact means. means for permitting a gradual movement only of said second-named contact means from or toward its w Vsaid given position before permitting their return thereto'.

2. In a regulating system, in combination, a control relay having contact means positionally responsive to an electrical quantity of the system, and contact means cooperatively related thereto and normally biased to a given position, means responsive to the engagement of said cooperating contact means for controlling said -regulated quantity, anti-hunting means comprising electroresponsive means energized upon engagement of said contact means for moving said second-named contact means away fromV said given position in a direction to separate said cooperating contact means, damping means for permitting a gradual movement only of'said secondnamed contact means'from or toward its initial position, and means for insuring completion of the movement of said second-named contact means throughout a given range away from said electroresponsive means energized upon engage,-`

ment of said cooperating contact meansfor moving said second-named contact means in a direction away from said first-named contact means, means for delaying the separation of said contact means in accordance with the amount of variation in the electrical quantity from its desired value, and means for insuring completion of the movement of said second-named contact means throughout a given range away from said given .position before permitting their return thereto.

4. Ina regulator system, in combination, a primary control relay having contact members movable in accordance with variations in an electrical quantity to be Yregulated and normally stationary cooperating contact members, `means controlled by engagement of said'contact members for eiiecting a correction in the regulated quantity, anti-hunting means including a timing relay energized upon the initiation of a corrective action. and electroresponsive means controlled thereby for moving said'normally stationary contact membersin a direction away from the rst-namedcontact members, and means for delaying the separation of said contact members in accordance with the amount of variation in the regulated quantity from its desired value, said timing relay having a time delay opening characteristic of suilicient` duration to permit the above named normally stationary contact (members to complete movement throughout a given range away from the first-named contact members before the opening of the relay.

5. In a regulator system, in combination, a primary control relay having contact members movable in accordance with variations in an electrical quantity to be regulated and normally stationary cooperating contact members, means controlledv by engagement of said contact members for effecting a correction in the regulated quantity, anti-hunting means including a relay energized upon the initiation of a corrective action and electroresponsivel means controlled thereby for. moving saidv normally stationary contact members in a direction away from the rstnamed contact members, damping means for permitting a gradual movement only of said normally stationary contact members from or toward their normally stationary positions, and

vmeans associated with Vsaid relay for providing a time delay opening characteristic in the operation of said relay upon interruption of its energizing circuit of suiiicient duration to permit the above named normally stationary contact ymembers to complete movement throughout s.

given range away from the rst-named contact members before the opening of the relay.`

6. In a regulator system, in combination, a. primary control relay having contact members movf able in accordance withvariations in an electrical quantity to be regulated and normally s tationary cooperating contact members, means controlled by engagement of said contact members for effecting a correction in the regulated quantity, anti-hunting means including a relay energized uponthe initiation of a lcorrective action and electroresponsive means controlled thereby for moving said normally stationary contact members in a direction away from the rstnamed contact members, and means associated with said relay for providing a time delay opening characteristic upon interruption of its energizing circuit of suicient duration to permit the Y above named normally stationary contact members to complete movement throughout a given range away from the first-named contact members before the opening ofthe relay. .f

7. In a regulator system, in combination, a primary control relay having contact members movable in accordance with'variations in an electrical quantity to be regulated and normally stationary cooperating contact members, means controlled by engagement of said contact members for effecting a correction in the regulated quantity, anti-hunting means including a relay energized upon the initiation of a corrective action and electroresponsive means controlled thereby for moving said normally stationary contact members in a direction away from the rstnamed contact. members, means associated with said relay for providing a time delay opening characteristic upon interruption of its energizing circuit, and damping meansfor permitting a gradual movement only of said normally stationary `contact members from or toward their normally stationary positions. y

JOSEPH F.v KOVALSKY. 

